Old Friend, Why So Shy?
by george's firework
Summary: "It's not what I've done. It's what I'm going to do. I'm going to be sent to Azkaban for murdering my own best friend." - How exactly would George and Angelina react if they found out their darling Roxy was marrying one Lee Jordan? One-shot, for now.


"You missed!" Roxanne sang, giggling as she danced away from him and allowed the wind to play through her dark auburn curls as she taunted him.

"Yes, well, we can't all be perfect, can we now?" Lee called back, a grin lighting his features as he chose another water balloon and weighed it in his hand before throwing it at her. She flicked it aside with her wand just in time and it burst on the wall behind her. She was dry aside from a few stray drops that arced through the air to glisten in her hair.

"Missed me, missed me, now you have to kiss me!" Roxanne cried teasingly, bouncing over to him and pulling the last water balloon out of his hand. The two of them turned to watch as it soared through the air and exploded in a multitude of rainbow-coloured droplets against a tree.

"With pleasure," Lee rumbled, bringing her attention away from the colours by placing his hands on her slender waist and pulling her in so he could drop a tender kiss onto her lips.

"Can I wear it now?" She asked eagerly when they broke apart and he rolled his eyes dramatically, smirking as she pouted at him with dark, pleading eyes. A sigh of defeat escaped him after a few moments of staring at her expression and he pulled away from her slightly so he could extract a small box from inside his robes.

"I'm not going to do the entire ceremony again so you can put it on your finger yourself," he said teasingly as she snatched the little blue box away from him and pulled it open, her eyes widening with happiness as she gazed upon the sparkling ring inside. A small but stunning marquise diamond was set between two very delicate bands of platinum and flanked by two tiny pear shaped rubies which flashed purple in certain lights. Roxy had almost fallen over backwards when he presented it to her last night, quite casually, in the garden and they had both agreed not to tell her parents until the next day.

"Are you ready?" She murmured and he snapped out of his thoughts. She was admiring the ring which, despite his previous statement, he had slipped onto her finger whilst he was daydreaming.

"To tell them?" He confirmed and she nodded absently. He often wondered how she could just know exactly what he was thinking but it had always been like that between them – ever since the day they met, in the summer of her third year. He had been travelling around since the end of the war, visiting various people whilst keeping up Potterwatch (still known by the same name, but focusing less on Harry) and it had been quite the surprise for him to come back to find George and Angelina married with two thirteen year old children. He had, of course, known they had been getting married (he'd been stranded in New Zealand and couldn't get home for the wedding).

"Yes, I think so. I just need to remember to breathe," Lee muttered. "What if George completely murders me? He would, you know. Do you remember how he reacted when you were fourteen and announced you were going out with that Davies boy? I could have sworn he was actually going to breathe fire, he was so angry. And it's even worse now because, you know, I'm his best mate and, Merlin, I'm nearly twenty years older than you! What are we thinking, telling them? Can't we just elope, or something? You know, run away together and-"

"Never face it?" Roxanne cut in, looking unimpressed. "The way you reacted to Uncle Fred's death? By running away and staying away for almost two decades? Well, Lee Jordan, that may be the way that you answer to this like this – which might I say is rather cowardly, for your information – but I am a Weasley, the daughter of George Weasley and Angelina Johnson, and the twin sister of Fred II, and Weasley's are brave. So, even if you want to cower and hide, we are telling them." She stared him down, her dark eyes flashing brightly as she told it to him how it was – something he both loved and hated about her. Not that he could ever hate her, of course. "I love you, I do, but this means a lot to me and if you love me too, you'll do it without even hesitating, without a quake in your voice or fear in your eyes." Her tone had softened and she took his hand, gazing up at him beseechingly. He sighed.

"I hate it when you lecture me, and then give me that look. You know I can't resist that look, no matter how ridiculous your demand is. And I'm just going to ignore the comments about being a coward because we both know I'm not." Roxanne's beautiful pale face was immediately lit up by a radiant beam and she grabbed his face so she could give him a lingering kiss. "Are you sure you can't wait just one more day, though?" Lee implored and her expression quickly turned sour. "That'll be a resounding "no" then…"

"ROX, LEE, DINNER'S GONNA BE READY IN FIFTEEN!" Fred stuck his head out of the back door, not actually looking at them as he hollered the announcement in as loud a voice as he could possibly manage. Roxanne winced and rolled her eyes as she delicately prodded her ear, making sure she could still hear properly. Then she perked up and grabbed Lee's hand.

"It's the perfect time to tell them!" She chirped and proceeded to drag her horrified fiancé towards the house. Blimey, when had she become so bloody strong?

"Right now?" He protested weakly, digging his heels into the ground in an attempt to slow her down. "Can't we tell them after dinner? I might feel calmer with a bit of food in my stomach…" His efforts to stop her were having absolutely no effect and Lee wondered if she was wearing her brother's first invention – a belt which took the weight out of objects the wearer was touching or carrying.

"Please, if you ate something before telling them it would probably come back up," Roxanne scoffed and he rolled his eyes as her speed increased. Yes, she was definitely wearing the belt. "Come on, the sooner we get it into the open, the sooner it's over. Of course, then there's the wedding to plan and all of the other relatives to deal with…" Roxanne trailed off with an evil grin as Lee turned a delicate shade of green. "Cheer up, it'll be fun!"

* * *

><p>"Roxy, give your brother's belt back to him – he's been looking for it all afternoon," George Weasley said absently from where he was reading the Quibbler in an armchair. Angelina stuck her head through the kitchen door and flicked her wand at her husband so his magazine soared out of the window. He looked up and began to protest but she silenced him with a look.<p>

"George, Lee, could you two go out back and set up the tables? I think it's nice enough to eat outside tonight, don't you?" Angelina ducked back into the kitchen and George stood up, preparing to amble outside and have a table war with his best friend. He stopped, however, when he saw the look Roxanne and Lee exchanged.

"Actually, Dad, I… We were hoping to talk to you and Mum about something," Roxanne said and Lee had to suppress a chuckle as he realised she was actually more nervous than he was now that they were actually going to share their news. So much for brave Weasleys.

"Of course, Roxy sweetheart," George replied amiably but his warm expression was edging towards suspicion as he glanced between them. "Ange, come here. Lee and Roxy want to talk to us about something." There was a loud bang from the kitchen and then Angelina appeared, looking extremely nonchalant, but Lee knew she had probably just dropped a lasagne or whatever she was making.

"What's up, guys? Did you see something suspicious on your walk?" She asked as she perched on the arm of the chair George had sat back down in. Lee swallowed nervously and, almost as if they had planned it, he and Roxanne sank onto the small sofa under the window, Roxanne sitting on his right. As he felt sweat began to bead on his palms and the back of his neck, Lee at least figured that they could escape out of the window if it came to the worst.

There was a very long moment of silence as Roxanne and Lee tried to communicate telepathically without actually looking at each other – each telling the other one to be the one to say it because, well, when it came to things like this they were both slightly spineless. Both George and Angelina could be terrifying when they wanted to.

"Roxy? Lee?" George prodded when the silence had passed the awkward mark and headed straight into tense. Angelina was eyeing them both shrewdly and George was shifting in his seat – something he did whenever he was uncomfortable with the atmosphere in a room. Roxanne couldn't stand it any longer and grabbed Lee's hand.

"Mum, Dad," she began but George interrupted.

"Roxanne Alyss Weasley," he said in a dangerously quiet voice and Lee's insides twisted. "What is that?" He was gazing intensely at his daughter's left hand, now clutching Lee's right, with an expression that wasn't quite a glare, but wasn't exactly happy either.

"George-" Lee started to speak but George's poisonous frown caused him to break off in the middle of his attempted sentence.

"Roxanne Alyss Weasley," he said again and Lee actually heard Roxanne swallow nervously. "That had better not be what I think it is. That had better just be you wearing a… a ring on the wrong finger." It seemed like he would actually choke on the word "ring" and Angelina went to put a comforting hand on his shoulder but he shrugged it off.

"George, dear, I'm sure it's not what you think," she said soothingly. "Is it, _Lee_?" She put an awful lot of emphasis on his name and shot him a look that would have killed if looks had the ability to do that. There was another long moment of silence before Lee squeezed Roxanne's hand reassuringly and looked at her parents, two of his best friends.

"Roxy and I are getting married," he announced and his voice seemed to echo in the deafening silence that followed his words. He cleared his throat, hoping to Merlin that George wouldn't kill him. Of course, if George didn't; Angelina would and if _she _didn't he would probably die of a heart attack. Said organ seemed to be attempting to imitate a hummingbird inside his chest. "I, err, proposed last night after the graduation party."

"Yes, the _graduation _party," George growled and Lee blinked. "What in the name of Merlin are you two _thinking_? The age difference… the age difference… Merlin I can barely even say it! I just don't understand this at all; I don't see why two people who are so close to me and so… so far apart in age – nearly _twenty _years may I remind you – would ever, ever want to do something like this. Is it some kind of sick joke? This isn't funny if it is! If you tell me this is a joke right now then I might spare your balls, Lee." At some point during his rant, George had got to his feet and begun to pace the living room but on his last declaration he turned and his wand was suddenly in his hand, pointing to an area that Lee greatly liked to keep intact and away from wand point.

"George, come now, let's be rational. I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation for this that they will be willing to give if you just calm down…" Lee was as relieved as a man in his situation could have been to realise that Angelina was, at least, taking the news better than her husband.

"NO I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!" George yelled and they all jumped. "What right do you have to come storming in here and just declare that you're marrying my daughter? Are you drunk, or completely insane? She's barely seventeen, and you're coming up to your 37th birthday! No, this is completely-"

"GEORGE FABIAN WEASLEY," Angelina's voice suddenly thundered, drowning out her husband and he turned to look at her with wide, astonished eyes.

"Angelina, surely you're not saying that you're ... that you're _alright _with this?" Lee suddenly became aware of Roxanne's thumb brushing lightly over his knuckles in small, calming circles. He wondered when he had started shaking. Was he really that scared of his best friend? What the hell ever happened to Gryffindor courage? He used to have more than enough of that and now it seemed he hardly had any.

"No, George, I'm not entirely alright with it – but I think we should at least give them a chance to explain themselves." George swallowed and he looked around the room desperately; he had yelled at Lee and looked to his wife for support and still no one had sprung out of a hiding place yelling "April Fools!" He was running out of options. Then his eyes lit upon his daughter, who he'd barely looked at since Lee had announced their news, and a little bit of hope appeared in his eyes. Roxanne quickly squashed it though.

"Daddy…" she began and immediately his face fell. She only called him that when she really wanted something, and usually she ended up getting it because he couldn't refuse anything of his little princess. "Daddy, I know it's kind of hard for you to process, but I love Lee and we are going to get married. We, um, we started dating the day after Luna and Rolf's wedding – you remember? He… He asked me for a dance and we started talking and I realised I was happy. He makes me happy and, if you love me Daddy, you'll respect and support our decision to get married." Lee stifled a chuckle; she really was good at getting what she wanted with the "if you love me" approach. He could see George melting slightly, he thought.

"Fred and I used to joke about which one of us would end up in Azkaban if we both didn't, and why. Both of us seemed to agree it would be him – we never really thought I would but apparently we were wrong," George commented lightly and his voice had a strange edge of calm to it. "I never thought I'd go to Azkaban."

"Daddy…?" Roxanne trailed off questionably "Why are you talking about going to Azkaban? What have you done that could possibly lead to you being sent there?"

"Oh, Roxy," George sighed as if he were talking to a curious two year old. "It's not what I've done. It's what I'm going to do. I'm going to be sent to Azkaban for murdering my own best friend." He finished his statement very calmly and Lee threw himself sideways just in time to avoid the hex George suddenly sent exploding his way.

"Daddy!" Roxanne's shriek made George stop in the middle of casting another hex and he immediately lowered his wand at the look on her face.

"Roxy, I'm sorry sweetheart, but over my dead body are you getting married before you're forty – let alone to someone twice your age! If she does go through with that, make it an open casket so everyone can see my beautiful face one last time," George said absently to his wife who rolled her eyes. Roxanne's face set and Lee swallowed – he knew there was a storm coming in the form of a small, auburn headed beauty. And though she may not be loud, Hurricane Roxy did not play fair.

"Well then you had better start making funeral plans because I'm marrying Lee whether you're there or not. In fact, even if we have to elope because no one in the family supports our decision, I'll still marry him. But I know we won't have to elope because everyone in this family is so supportive of each other – come on, James and Dominique are _cousins _and you barely batted an eyelid at that! But now that _I _want to get married, it's not alright? Lee and I aren't related by blood – you're just not alright with the age difference? Let me ask you this: if James and Dominique weren't cousins, but they were separated by fifteen, twenty years would that have bothered you?"

"Roxy, it's because you're our daughter, sweetheart," Angelina interjected but Roxanne ignored her mother, still addressing her father.

"Daddy… Please can you do this for me? Please, just try? You've brought Fred and me up teaching us the ways of the world, but you've always said that the one thing you want in life would be for us to be happy. _This _makes me happy and I would be even happier if you would give me away." George seemed at a complete loss.

"Ange, what do you make of all this?" He asked weakly after a moment or two. She considered it.

"Well, obviously I'd prefer if it were someone closer to her age but I'd rather it be Lee, someone we know and trust, than a stranger. I don't know… I'm trying to absorb it really." Angelina paused, as if she was going to add something else, but then just nodded and disappeared into the kitchen. Roxanne could tell her father was still very uneasy.

"Daddy," she said firmly and he looked up. "I don't care about anything but you being there. I wouldn't care if the Scamanders came and gave us a family of Blibbering Humdingers, or if James and Dom came and announced they were having a baby, or if Al turned up with Scorpius in tow and announced he was gay – which would not surprise me. All I want is for my Daddy to be there on my big day." George stared at her earnest face and sighed.

"Of course I'll give you away, Roxy, but don't take that as me saying that I'm happy with this entire arrangement. I'd much prefer-" But they never did get to find out what George would prefer as Fred chose that moment to come clumping down the stairs.

"Has the yelling stopped? Should I be worried about pieces of flying furniture or people? What the hell just happened?" He asked, glancing quickly around the room before his eyes fell on Roxanne and Lee sitting holding hands on the sofa. His eyes flickered over to George who just shook his head and muttered something obscene under his breath. "Oh, so you finally told them?" He directed his question to his twin sister who raised an eyebrow.

"If by that you mean that Lee and I finally told Mum and Dad about us dating and the fact that we're getting married – something nobody else knew, then yes. You would be correct." Fred gazed at her for a few long moments, his eyes searching, before he shrugged and made his way over to the kitchen.

"You're getting married? Cool. Can I be best man?" He asked quite casually over his shoulder and then disappeared into the kitchen without waiting for an answer. Lee sent a questioning glance at his fiancée who shrugged, evidently not knowing how Fred had known about their relationship either.

"Right, now that that's all blown out of the water, who in the family are we going to tell next?" Roxanne asked enthusiastically, rubbing her hands together. Lee put his face in his hands and groaned.


End file.
